One of my patients recently complained. I asked her what her doctor said. She told me she had forgotten to tell her doctor. She told me that she had become used to the problem and “accepted” it. Many senior-related articles advise writing down symptoms and questions before visiting the doctor. Good advice; as far as it goes. It’s the stuff that falls off the radar that could be the most important. The doctor needs information from the patient or the patient’s advocate. That information is the basis to decide which questions/tests to pursue.

What kind of information doesn’t get to the doctor?

Things to which the senior has become accustomed.

Things that seem unimportant to the senior.

Things that the senior believes can’t be helped anyway.

When a senior has a low back pain every morning that goes away, it’s no longer an issue. That has many causes and not something to ignore. When the senior dismisses a symptom they will probably not report. Earlier this year, one of my patients dismissed his repeated shortness of breath. I insisted that he report it or I would call his doctor and report it myself! Only such a drastic remark “motivated” him to tell his doctor. He only did so after his physical. His doctor called him back and ran a test. He was sent to the hospital immediately. A month later, he underwent open heart surgery! Then, there are the symptoms seniors believe can’t be helped. When seniors were younger, perhaps certain conditions did not have effective treatments. With such a world view, getting the full picture may take some work on your part. I find my biggest challenge is to help the senior accept that new options are truly available. Then, I gather information to form a symptom picture. By the way, gathering data is one of the topics we cover in Senior Sidekicks’ course, Preparing to Parent Your Parent. We’ve designed this with caregiver convenience in mind.